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Holiday Breads
Paciarella
Paciarella / Turta Michelacc (chocolate-flavored tart made with dried bread, flavored with amaretti cookies)
Originated from: Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Occasion: Festivals
Contributed by: Taken from "Libro di Cucina" Italian Wikibooks

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Ingredients

2 liters (about 2 quarts) of milk
600 grams (about 1 1/3 pounds) of dried-up bread ["pane di pasta dura"]
500 grams (about 16 ounces) of amaretti cookies
500 grams (about 16 ounces)) of sugar
250 grams (about 8 3/4 ounces) of cocoa
150 grams (about 5 1/4 ounces) of citrus ["cedro"]
200 grams (about 7 ounces) of raisins
100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces) of butter
2 packets of vanilla sugar
lemon peel
a pinch salt
about half a glass of anise liqueur
pine nuts to taste
if you want you can add 3 eggs

Ingredienti (original Italian text)
2 lt di latte
600 grams di pane di pasta dura
500 g di amaretti
500 g di zucchero
250 g di cacao misto
150 g di cedro
200 g di uvetta
100 g di burro
2 bustine di zucchero vanigliato
buccia di limone
un pizzico sale
circa mezzo bicchierino di liquore anice (o 200 g di pan d'anice)
pinoli a piacere
volendo si possono aggiungere 3 uova



Directions

The night before, soak the dried up bread in the milk and occasionally give it a stir, then mix the dried up bread with the ingredients (anise liqueur, chopped amaretti cookies, sugar, cocoa), chopping everything up. Leave all night. Also, soak the raisins in water over-night.



The next morning, chop the mixture with your hands (or with the mill to have a finer grain), wash the raisins, dry them on a cloth and then add the other ingredients.

Grease the pan very well (preferably high one) and then add the mixture to it; bake in hot oven.

When the color resembles dark-chocolate, stick a toothpick and check if it is dry; if it is then its done.

At this point turn off the heat, and cool.

Note: the cake is better the next day.



Preparazione (Original Italian text)

La sera prima mettere il pane di pasta dura (meglio ancora se secco) a bagno nel latte e di tanto in tanto dare una mescolata; amalgamare poi gli ingredienti (amaretti pane anice, zucchero, cacao, sminuzzando il tutto) e lasciar riposare tutta la notte. Da parte mettere a bagno in acqua l'uvetta.



Il mattino seguente sminuzzare l'impasto con le mani (o con il passaverdura per avere una grana piu fine), lavare bene l'uvetta, asciugarla su uno strofinaccio e terminare di aggiungere gli altri ingredienti.

Imburrare molto bene la teglia (meglio se alta) e spargere del pane grattuggiato; poi versare l'impasto e mettere in forno ben caldo. quando avre assunto un bel colore scuro-cioccolato, infilare uno stuzzicadenti e controllare che, quando estratto, sia ben asciutto per sapere sei cotta; a questo punto lasciar raffreddare a forno spento.

Consigli

Nota bene: il dolce piu buono il giorno seguente.


Notes

The following text was taken from Wikibooks (Machine google translation: "The paciarella (paciarla in Milanese dialect, also known as " the turta Michelacc ", is a cake of bread, eaten in celebration of the festivals, especially in small towns of the province.... Original Italian text: "La paciarella (paciarla in dialetto milanese, detta anche "turta del Michelacc"), una torta di pane, consumata in ricorrenza delle feste patronali, in particolare nei piccoli paesini della provincia." P.S. Even though the recipe suggests one can use three eggs, it would make sense to use the eggs, or one could easily end up with a pudding. It's possible the tart even with the eggs has the texture of a pudding (I made an attempt to do the recipe, but I didn't follow it to the letter, so the result was unsatisfying.). Photo: Mary Melfi.

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